Cigarette container



Oct. 7, 1930. H. c; sToLL CIGARETTE com-Amara Filed March 19, 1929 2 Shuts-Shut. l

Patented Oct. 7, 1930 1 l w s "Sr-ms mm;

1 n. HENRY c, s'roLL, or ianonxnnwfsronx, Assrsnon To umvmsfisrm mcw im & SALES C0,I1\TC., ornnw mg N. Y., A conronarron on new 1011 y [CIGA ETTE CONTAINER Application nl 'nmh e, 1929. 1 Serial menses.

7 Special. objects of the present invention are toprovidea holder for cigarettesyor other articles which will operate to deliver the articles as required and whichwill be of 15' particularly simple, inexpensive construetion andadapted to be readily mounted on the instrument panel of a motor vehicle.

l The foregoing and other desirable objects are attained in this inventionbyjthe novel 10 features of construction; combinations and relations of parts hereinafter described-and .particularlyfcovered in theclaimsp p l The drawing forming partof thespecifi cationfillustrates one practical; embodiment 115 of the invention, it being understood that the structuremay he modifie'd as regards this disclosure without departure fromtlie true spirit and broadsc'ofpe of the invention.

' Fig. 1 is abrokenandpart-sectional front elevation of an embodiment" of the invention mounted on a dash or instrument panel of an automobileyFig. Zis'a-brOken part sec? tional side view ofthe device showing the parts as having been operated to deliver a cigarette; Fig. 3 is a've'rtical sectional view of the device substantially on the plane of 3- 3. Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a broken side elevation of the deviceremoved from its mounting and showing the button or; plunger forced inward in theact ofsegregatinga cigarette .it'or delivery; Fig. ,5 is a verticalsectional view as on substantially'the plane of line 55,pl?ig.4; Fig. dis a front elevation of a modification; Fig. 7 is alongitudinal'section taken on line 77"-oi Fig. 6;Fig. 8 is a cross-section taken on line 881 of Fig.7. i 1 j The box part of the device is shown as madeup of a front wall 6 which maybe of ornamental or fanciful design as indicated, I a back wall 7, the fixed si'd'e and bottom walls 8, 9 andthe movable top and side walls-10, 11.

The latter two movable wallsiare' indicated asboth pivoted, by suitable hinge lugs on a singlepivot pin or rod 12 f supported'between the front and rear walls and as :both yieldingly held in their closed lrelations'indicatedin Fig. 3 by the coil spring common to both "encircling the-rod and having the side wall 11 respectively.

opposite ends bearing against the cover The bottom. wall 9 15 shown as carrying abhrvedextension'flgi at its lower edge forminga delivery trough fora single cigarette and the movable side wall 11 isindicated as having a cut-ofiifshculder or edge 15, partially obstructing the entrance to this trough inthe closed position ofthe wall, 'Fi 3.

This side-wall servesinefi'ectas parto the bottom of the box eooperatingvwith the wall 9 to providea V-shaped support forathe cigarettes. From ithis,it follows that if the lower wall 11 is sprung outwardly as in'Fig. i I

5,' the body of i the; cigarettes will: be :lowered and the lowest: oneinrthe group Willrhe per? i nected at the rear with a rodor wire 17 sliding in a guide 111g 18 struck out from the fixed'bottom wall 9, said rod having an. angular offset 19 carrying a transverse portion 20 riding over .an'inclinedcam' edge 21carriedby an arched extensiona22 of the movable wall and lyingbeneath' and in back: of i i the deliverytrough. .The button 16-1nay have "a. screw-threaded, soldered or other suitable fastening 23 at the forward end of 'rod or wire17 and. thus mounted provides an abutmenthforthe forward end or the l spring 24,;which has abearin at its rear end 'againstthe guidelug18. T e spring auto- Imatically returns thebutton :from the] position: shown in Fig. 4 to thatshown in Fig.2. as soon as pressure on the buttoniis relieved, permitting the spring 13 to return the cut that shown in Fig. 3 as. the button moves outward. The returnstroke of the actuating mechanism described is utilized to ejectthe cigarette-by forming therod; or wire with n a ofi' wall from the position shown inFig. 5Jto portion 25 extending rearwardly from the transverse cam engaging shoulder 20 and arched as shown at 26 to extend about and into the rear end of the trough where it is shown as transversely bent at 27 to form aplunger head for engagement with the end of the cigarette in the trough. To prevent the plunger rod from turning because 01' its thrust against the cam edge 21, the rearwardly extended portion 25 of the rod is shown as guided in a groove or opening in a fixed guide lug 28 at theback of the box. The rod being thus guided in a straight line movement and held against turning serves in its inward movement from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 4 to thrust back the cam'21 and to open out the movable wall as in Fig. 5 to drop the bottom cigarette into the delivery trough. In this movement, the ejector head 27 is carried clear to the rear so that the separated cigarette falls in front of the same, as shown in Fig. 4. hen pressure on the button 15 relieved and the spring 24 thrusts. the plunger outwardly, the ejector pushes the separated cigarette outwardly as in Fig. 2 and at the same time permits the cut-off wall to close back to the position indicate-d in Fig. 3 supporting the balance of the cigarettes. Thus each time the button is pressed and released a cigarette will be dropped into the trough and then automatically projected into position to be readily taken up in the fingers. If desired, the button may be released with a snap so as to entirely expel the cigarette. An attractive and practical method of mounting the device is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein a bezel 29 of the desired ornamental form is shown seated in an opening in the instrument panel 30 and held therein by short bolts 31 on the back of the bezel passed through openings in the panel and secured by nuts 32. This bezel is shown as having a notch 33 at one point and the face plate as flanged and having a rib 34 on such flange to enter the nut, thus insuring that the device will be entered in the proper relation and frictionally held in such position. To facilitate removal and replacement of the device, an ornamental handle 35 may be pro.- vided on the face plate and a suitable di charge opening 36 is provided in the face plate in line with the delivery trough.

The container may be conveniently filled by withdrawing it from its mount and holding back the spring closed cover as indicated in the broken lines in Fig. 3. This throwing backjofthe cover exposes the entire interior of the container, enabling easy filling, or if desired, removal of any or all of the cigarettes. p

The device is particularly simple and inexpensive and can be readily manufactured of light sheet metal and wire parts. The action is positive and certain and the arrangement of the cigarettes in a substantially V-shaped support ensures that the cigarettes will feed automatically one at a time down into the delivery position.

To save cutting of the panel, the device may be made so as to detachably clamp over the edge portion of the panel, the face plate of the device then being modified accordingly.

he last form consists of a base 3'? havlng an upstanding lug at 38 engaged in' front of the panel 30 and a clamp screw 39 engaging the back panel. This base has grooves 40 in which slide the ribs 41 of the U-shaped body member 42; In this member is positioned the box portion of the device comprising the front and back walls 6, 7', the side and bottom walls 8, 9 and the movable cut-ofi wall 11. The body member may be in the form of a single casting as indicated and the body portion of sheet metal inserted down in the U-shaped casting against positioning stops 43, 44. A rib 45 on the front of the body casting engages the supporting base to limit the inward sliding movement and a stop screw 46 similarly limits the outward sliding movement operating in a groove 47 in the underside of the support, against a stop wall 48 at the outer end of the groove.

This form of the invention is readily clamped in place on the instrument panel, but is used in the same way as the first form. The filling of the device however is accomplished simply by sliding out the draw portion so as to expose the open top of the same.

lVhat is claimed is 1. A container for cigarettes or the like, comprising a box-like structure having a movable wall for supporting articles in the boxlike" structure and a trough below said wall to receive an article released by the movement of said wall, a plunger projecting from the container and operable in its inward stroke to shift the wall to release an article into the delivery trough and an ejector connected with the plunger in line with the back of the trough, shiftable out of the trough on the inward stroke of the plunger and operable in the return movement of the plunger to enter the rear end of the trough to deliver the released article from the front end of said trough.

2. In an article of the character disclosed, relatively inclined box walls, one of said walls being movable away from the other to release an article supported between the walls, a delivery trough carried by one of said walls, a reversely shifting member operable in one movement to open the movable wall and maintain it in open'position when said member is at the extremity of its movement,

spring means operable in the reverse movement of the member to shift said movable wall in aclosing direction and an ejector operable in said latter movement of the memher to shift the article longitudinally in the delivery trough. i

3. A container for cigarettes or the like, comprlslng an encloslng structure for the articles, a delivery trough at the foot of "the same, a movable cut-off to deliver the articles one at a time into said trough, an ejector in line with the trough and operating connections for causing the ejectorto retreatfrom the trough on its idle'stroke When-the cut-off operates to, deliver an article into the trough 1 l j and to advance into the trough on its Working stroke when the cut-01f has completed;

the delivery of anarticle into the trough to thereby eject the article.

4. In an article of the character disclosed,

a support, a faceplate insertable in'said support, a boxstructure on the back of said face plate, a push button plunger operable Way for operating both the ejector and the cut-off means and including mechanism for actuating the cut-off meansto admit an article into the delivery Way on the rearward retractive movement of the ejector and to cause the ejector to projectthe selected article from the delivery way; on the return movementof the ejector andcommonactuating means. v In testimony whereof I affix my signature. HENRY C. STOLL.

through said face plate, said box structure 1 including a movable Wall forming a support and cut-off for articles contained in the'box structure, a delivery trough positioned to article into the, trough and to advance into releasing position.

the trough as the cutoff returns to its non- 5. In an articleof the character disclosed,

a support, aface plate insertable in said support, a box structure on the back of said face plate, a push button plunger operable through said face plate, said box structure including a movable Wall forming a support and cut-ofi' for articles containedin the box 7 structure, a delivery trough positioned to receive articles released by said cut-0E, an

ejector at the rear of the trough and operatng connections from the push button to said cut-off and ejector to cause the ejector to retreat as the cut-off is actuated to release an article into the trough and to advance into the trough as the cut-0E returns to its nonreleasing position,the supporting means including a bezel and means for attaching the same to the instrument panel of a motor vehicle, said face plate and bezel having cooperatingmeans for releasably securing the face plate in predeterminedrelation in thebezel.

6. In an article of the character disclosed,

the combination of an article receptacle, a

housing receiving said receptacle, said receptacle having a sliding frictional engagement in said housing and by Which it is releasably i to the front of the same,

confined in said housing, said removable receptacle having an article delivery Way open an ejector operating in the rear end of said delivery Way, movable cut-off means for admitting articles in the receptacle into said delivery Way and com mon actuating means at the front of the receptacle adjacent themouth of the delivery 

